Mercedes Outsells Audi in November Due to Increased Demand for Compacts

Dec 10, 2013 10:01 AM EST | Jordan Ecarma

Mercedes-Benz stood as the world's second-biggest luxury car brand last month after outselling Audi for the first time in almost a year.

The Daimler AG brand's sales increase was partly due to its new line of compacts, Bloomberg reported.

Mercedes, which has been in third place all year, sold 133,440 cars and sport-utility vehicles in November for an 11 percent increase year-over-year, topping Audi's sales of 132,050 vehicles.

BMW still holds the lead with sales of 149,660 last month.

Mercedes' sales jumps outpaced gains at Volkswagen's Audi for the fifth consecutive month in November as Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche plans to overtake the automaker's German rivals. Daimler is working to come back to the top after dropping to third place in 2011, according to Bloomberg.

The Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany-based company saw sales boosted by a 54 percent surge in demand for compact cars like the four-door CLA coupe and A-Class hatchback.

"The current model cycle is very beneficial for Mercedes," said Sascha Gommel, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Commerzbank AG. "Audi and BMW have to invest in new production capacities and the development of new models. Mercedes's investment cycle has peaked and they are entering a phase of outperformance."

With November's sales jump, Mercedes has already surpassed total sales in 2012.

While European economies are struggling, Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW aim to hit sales records boosted by demand from China and the United States.

BMW saw an 8 percent gain last month with sales of 1.5 million vehicles.

"Although conditions remain challenging in a number of European markets, in particular, we expect sales to continue to develop positively over the coming months," Ian Robertson, head of sales and marketing at Munich-based BMW, said in a statement Tuesday. "Our target of record sales for 2013 is now within reach."

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